To think schools should have a class to teach basic life skills

There are 4 types of parents

Ones who do all that and more.

Those who don't know themselves

Those who think it's the schools responsibility to teach kids everything from wiping their own arses to how to eat with a knife and fork to how to actually be polite to others

Those who do absolutely everything for their children, run their lives so little Tarquin never has to even tie his own shoes (bit embarrassing for a member of parliament that but hay ho) and suddenly the kids are 40, ma and pa are getting on and the kids actually have to manage their own lives.

So whilst initially I said the parents should do it...I'd not trust 50% of them to do it and for the sake of the kids and for the country, schools should

If anyone is concerned about this on a personal level, ie for their own kid, rather than wanting it for every child, can I suggest Scouting or Guiding. It depends what badges they do but plenty cover different life skills. Most of that list is covered in my kids' school but it doesn't harm to reinforce it.

I've never used a bunsen burner since I left school but it did give me a really clear conceptualisation of what was going on when there was an issue with the gas pipes in my house. So it made me better at thinking. Also I imagine I benefit from the understanding of people who do get to use bunsen burners in their jobs.

Career guidance is obviously covered in schools already. Business studies is a GCSE option (in schools), food tech is a class in school.

DD so far has made smoothies, biscuits(with oats), apple crumble, muffins, fish parcels, lasagne, pizza, chicken pies , fish cakes , stir fries in food tech. She’s y8.

Things I wish schools did teach:

First Aid
Financial Literacy - mortgages, pensions, debt etc
Philosophy and Critical Thinking
More time given over to study practical subjects

We learnt all of this in the80s in Australia. We even did “parent craft”!

I agree it’s very much needed. In the 90s I worked as a school liaison officer and went out to schools to teach money management.

Well I agree it does, but the OP is saying it should be taught in schools and it is. And that cooking should be taught in school, and it is. I think parents take main responsibility for this, but you can’t say it’s not covered at all in schools. Not really sure what your point is tbh

That sounds incredibly boring and I suspect would lead to even more school refusal.

What about PE, Music, Art, Humantities, Languages etc?

Completely agree. I'd add things like how to cook a nutritious meal, set up a business, how to be self employed, how to find a job, decent careers guidance before the kids choose their subjects for further study etc.

To all those who say these things are the jobs of parents, many parents can't budget or cook a nutritious meal themselves. Some can't even toilet train their kids before school or give them breakfast.
There are zero tests required to be a patient and zero aptitude needed. I'd not rely on them to teach kids life skills.

Learning first aid at primary school isn't enough it needs to be done regularly. The only thing I remember cooking at school was a sausage plait and a jam sponge.

Some of these things are already taught in school, some are really down to parenting, though we shouldn't allow children with poor/incapable parents to get left behind, but some will surely be learnt as you go through life, with the help of Google and other resources. You can't expect to teach things once or twice when people are 14 and have them remember it perfectly 15 years later, and that;s without considering that the knowledge may then be out of date anyway, as may be the case with mortgages/credit cards etc.

I consider myself a pretty decent parent but I have no idea whether my dc are confident in changing light bulbs as the modern ones seem to last forever and I can't remember the last time I changed one. I'm sure they'll cope fine when the time comes though.

People really need to wean themselves off the state 🙄. So many claim benefits now so the state paying their upkeep now they want the state to bring up their kids too?! Dear me.

If I had my way schools would focus on Maths, English, Science and Technology. Life skills is what decent parents should be teaching their children at home.

Or maybe parents could, you know, parent.

That as maybe but many parents can't budget or cook a nutritious meal themselves. Some can't even toilet train their kids before school or give them breakfast.
There are zero tests required to be a patient and zero aptitude needed. I'd not rely on them to teach kids life skills.

That’s your job as a parent

Sorry, and food tech.

Honestly, if you can't figure out how to change a lightbulb I'm not sure how anyone could help you.

Schools teach loads of those things. Fire alarms and insurance (and the lightbulb changing) are the only ones I haven't personally taught or watched being taught, and I'm pretty sure that primary schools do cover fire alarms given that my DC came home and told me that we should check ours. English, Maths, DT and PSHE cover everything else on your list.

Schools should replace parents? Actually most schools do this in pshe

why not how to do laundry and taking the rubbish outside while you are at it.

This is not what schools are for, and no, I don't want my kids to waste their time being taught about "basic skills".

High schools teach cooking. A lot of primary schools teach basic first aid (it’s through an outside provider in our school).

I am 45 years old. Some of the aforementioned stuff I was taught in school, some my parents taught me and the rest I worked out for myself because I am a grown up ! Please take some responsibility for yourself OP.

My parents - both successful academics who were more or less decently competent at adulting - taught me nothing about basic life skills, and then seemed surprised / appalled that I didn’t magically know how to manage my finances / file my taxes / cook / change a fuse when I became an adult.

I think it’s insane that this stuff isn’t taught at schools - which isn’t at all a dig at schools, or teachers. It’s insane that schools are so poorly funded, teachers are so poorly paid and overstretched and unsupported, etc. We could be setting kids up so much better for life if only we made it a priority.

ETA: I didn’t grow up in the UK - so if life skills were taught here back in the 80s I missed out! We had ‘domestic science’ classes where we were taught embroidery.

I may well be too old, and I remember some elements being covered in school, but not everything that I would want to see included. And frankly most of the recipes we made in cooking world be utterly useless in the real world. Lentil soup and scones were the honourable exceptions. "Trifle" which involved assembling a range of ready made sweet things jam, swiss roll, tinned fruit, tinned custard, squirty cream and 100s and 1000s and then adding more sugar is not going to help anyone on a tight budget to feed their family well.

I was at a senior catholic school in the 70,s.
We had two hour per week to learn extra things.
Basic cooking. Ironing, changing a plug, even hang wallpaper.
And plenty of other skills. Both boys and girls.
Money skills were taught in maths.
Last year we were taught how to change a tyre, put oil in.
And as it was a very very big play ground, drive the car.
I understand that some of these things should have been taught by parents
but not all parents are good or care about the child.